Ice and Flames
by Leaha
Summary: She did everything in her power to be forgotten, now the only one who knows of her existence is Yamamoto,then an event occurs that causes Hitsugaya to discover not only who she is,but secrets kept quiet for years and four smart kids.Can he handle them all
1. Chapter 1

Its been a while since I've written and posted something at all so I'm a tad rusty. How ever I appreciate all Criticism and Compiments to help me excel in my writing career. Please let me know what you think and if you have a question or something I will do everything in my power to reply to it at the beginning of every chapter. I have yet to figure out how long this story will last but I'm hoping its not anything rushed.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Bleach characters despite how attractive some of them are. I do however will take all credit for the characters that I have created for this particular story.

Thanks for reading!

Leaha

* * *

The river water sparkled brightly in the morning sun. It was quiet in the autumn hours of Karakura Town. The streets that were normally bustling with excitement were silent since everyone had already engulfed themselves in their daily activities. Occasionally a car would pass by, but that was the most noise heard with exception of the sounds of children running and screaming gleefully along the rivers edge. For normal children they should have been in school or at a daycare, unfortunately for this group of little youngsters they didn't fit in anywhere because they all possessed unique qualities that others their age made fun of. To make things even more difficult all four of them were orphans with no family to turn to, only each other. Moments later a teenage looking young woman appeared atop the hill that led down to the river, where they were playing. She smiled down at them and watched as they rolled in the grass. She was their guardian and had accepted them for who they were despite their differences in society. They had spiritual pressure, also known as reiatsu, that was far greater than that of a normal human being for example, they talked to ghosts and occasionally played games with them. Unfortuantely sometimes an evil spirit called a Hollow would appear and try to devour their souls because they were attracted to their smell. Normal human beings couldn't see them, but she could due to her being a Soul Reaper or Shinigami as some called it. The kids knew who and what she was but they had know idea about why she was in Karakura Town and never asked. She had always told them 'that there are some things best left unsaid'. In turn for their silence though she trained them in the shinigami arts and helped them to become Soul Reapers as well because it happened to be in their blood.

A bloodcurdling howl interrupted her thoughts. The children below her stopped in their tracks and looked towards the river. The four of them changed their stances to fighting mode knowing full well what it was. It excited them every time they heard that sound. From above their heads a hole opened up in the sky and through it crawled forth a monstrous creature with a skull mask and a hole in its chest.

"Stupid Hollows." she muttered

"Oye!" she yelled "Stay back you know the rules!"

"Aw come on sensei how are we ever gonna get strong if you never let us fight the real deal?" the fifteen year old in the group asked with annoyance.

The Hollow howled one more time before it lunged forward while the kids weren't looking, she brought her hands together and began to chant just as a dragon of ice appeared from the clouds and froze the monster in its place. Her eyes grew wide and she called to the kids to run, after only a mere second had passed the Hollow broke free from its icy prison using a bright red ball of energy known to her as a Cero. The earth behind them exploded and she surged forward and shoved the kids away forcing them to break into a fast run, she never looked back once for she knew what would happen next and she didn't want herself nor the children to be involved with any of the Soul Reapers. There were enough things she had to worry about when she got home,and being seen by them would only make things worse.

"Cool." one of the kids said staring in awe.

She looked back to see that one of the youngest kids couldn't resist stopping to watch the battle. His comment made her look up to see a young man with silver white hair wearing a black kimono and a white jacket stand before the Hollow without fear. The white jacket signified his status as a captain from Soul Society where all the Shinigami resided. Beside him was his Vice-Captain, an older woman with orange red hair.

"Dammit." she replied grabbing the kid by his arm and dragging him away.

The little captain looked down at them just as his subordinate finished the evil spirit off. The child waved up at him in excitement catching him off guard. While holding his arm she jerked the shirt collars of the others and used a quick step called shunpo to disappear before anything else could take place.

"Huh?" the captain asked in shock.

"Captain Hitsugaya what's wrong?" his Vice-Captain asked.

"Matsumoto did you see that just now?" he asked her to be sure that he hadn't been seeing things even though he was confident about his sight.

"See what Captain?" she answered.

"She wasn't a soul and she knows how to use shunpo. I'll have to report this back to the Captain-Commander and ask if another shinigami is here that we haven't been told about." he thought silently to himself.

"Nevermind." he replied "Let's go."

He narrowed his teal colored eyes in the direction they had disappeared. This did not set well with him, her spiritual energy couldn't even be detected, it was as if she didn't even exist.

* * *

She entered the home and quickly put up a barrier. The kids stood their quietly as she calmed down a little before averting her gaze to them. They knew that they were in trouble there wasn't a need for words to tell them that. Her mouth opened to speak but she stopped when the youngest one dropped to his knees and bowed down with his face pressed against the floor.

"I'm sorry sensei!" he cried out "I did not follow your orders. When we see a shinigami we are to run home not stand and wave."

Her eyes softened as she watched him. They were like her own children. Being angry at them never lasted long and she couldn't help it. They were all precious to her. She kneeled down and stroked his head gently.

"Atsushi don't be so hard on yourself, just be sure to remember next time in case I'm busy and I can't get to you in time when there is danger. If they find out your secret they'll send you to Soul Society and the first thing they'll do is interrogate you before possibly forcing you to stay there and live under their laws and not give you the chance to make choices of your own free will. In the thirteen protection squads they do not hesitate to put you on the front line if you are skilled and they will find out even if you hide it. I've trained you all because I saw your potential and brought it out of you so that you could help others and not sit back to watch them die. That's what the Shinigami in Soul Society do. They follow only the orders given to them and nothing else. In worst case scenario they could possibly execute you and not even know who you are."

"Hai sensei." he whimpered "But what about you. Aren't you one of them too?"

She was silent for a time to think over what he'd just asked her. It wasn't the first time he had asked her and probably wouldn't be the last, but she told him again anyway

"That's why I'm here. I walked out on them, but they won't consider me an enemy because if I became a threat...well let's just say they'd have their hands full." she smiled "Now off to your rooms I have things to do. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

The four kids bowed in respect before running upstairs to their rooms. When she knew they were in their designated places she unlocked the door to her office and walked in being sure to close the door behind her. A bright light shined behind her as the giant monitor that made up one of the walls came on. An older man showed up and bowed in respect to her in turn she followed his gesture. His head was as bare as ever. The only hair that had ever seemed to have existed on his body was the ridiculously long beard that he kept bound tightly. For once he didn't have his captain's coat lying across his shoulders. Silence filled the air between the two of them until she sat down in her chair.

"I received a report about you today madam." he began "Is it really necessary for you to be so formal?" she asked sighing in annoyance.

"When exactly do you plan on returning to Soul Society? Due to Aizen's schemes we need as many powerful Shinigami as we can find for the war that will take place in the winter. All of the Captains need your guidance right now. If they train under you until the battle we are sure to win."

"You'll be just alright without me Genryusai. I've been gone for a couple hundred years now and you've been running things just fine."

"It's getting hectic around here, especially ever since the assassination of Central Room 46. Several recent events in fact have helped me to realize this. We honestly need your assistance." he pleaded with her yet again.

He did this every time they spoke. Aizen's rebellion, the Arrancar, Central Room 46. It gave her a headache just listening to him preach about it.

"Captain Hitsugaya is very intelligent. Now that he's seen you there will be no telling when he'll show up again and ask you questions. You can't hide in Karakura Town forever. That place is a ground zero battlefield and those children are not safe by any means. You should have brought them here to live along side with us a long time ago."

"Why so you could bend them to your will? Its nice to freely wipe your nose without waiting for the order to do so." she snapped.

"If you have such a problem with the way things are being run then now is the perfect opportunity to make some changes. You have the skills and power to do so. None of the captains even have a clue that I am merely filling in for you Admiral."

Her eyes glared fiercely at him for calling her by that title. He had purposely stepped on that landmine.

"I'm growing very tired of repeating myself to you. Do not call me by that anymore. This conversation is over." she said standing up straight before turning her back on him.

"There is going to come a time when you won't be able to hideout anymore and you can't protect those little ones forever." he informed her before signing off.

She punched her work desk forcefully causing the legs to snap which made the solid piece of furniture drop to the floor. Papers from the Soul Society scattered everywhere. Everything that had happened in the past couple years up there no lay scattered on the floor before her.

"I know." she told the eerie silence in her room. "I know."

* * *

The next morning all the kids ran through the house in excitement having left their main bodies and taken form in their souls they wore little black kimonos that signified their status as Shinigami. Quickly they headed down to the basement ready to learn and fight. They loved learning the ways of the Shinigami despite what they had always been told. It had become something that ran through their veins like blood. Naomi waited for them below and watched as they lined up side by side with bright eyes of joy. Gennryusai had no idea what she was doing with these kids and she had no intention of telling him until the time was right. Each and everyone of them had the skills of a captain, but were unaware of it. They were between the age of fifteen and eight, all of them had mastered their Soul Slayer swords to the point that they could make them materialize in a battle and use Bankai. There was supposedly no higher level that a Shinigami could obtain.

"Today you will be training to see how long you can hold your Bankai in a battle against me. I won't go easy on either of you, however my limiters are on I want to all to give me a good reason as to why I should take them off and try to fight you."

Saying things like that always riled the kids up a little more than normal, it was her way of mentally training them not to lose their cool and to think of ways to out smart the enemy.  
"

"NOW GO!" she shouted at them and they separated all of them coming to attack her at once.

* * *

Later the kids all lay in the living room out of breath. They had been training for six hours and not once had put even a scratch on her. Obviously they were too exhausted to do anything else, so she had gone out to pick up dinner. She trudged up the hill caring the seven pizza boxes while the intoxication aroma taunted her. Sure the delivery boy could have dropped them off at the house, but that would have been another almost fifteen dollars. Like hell she was going to spend anymore money. The sun was setting as pretty as it always did. She enjoyed watching the light from it spread across the sky like fire. Sighing heavily she walked down a flight of steps and stopped when she reached the bottom. In front of her stood the little Captain from earlier in the day. He silently leaned against the guard rail constantly pushing buttons on what looked like a cell phone, even though she knew differently. Ignoring his presence she walked by without a word and kept going until she accidently kicked a rock with her foot that caused him to look up. She paid no attention to the rock and kept walking casually, all the while she could feel his eyes on her. The feeling of it annoyed her to no end, but if she said something he would know something if he hadn't already since she always cloaked her reiatsu so that no one could find it even if they looked to the ends of the earth.

Hitsugaya stood there staring at the young woman as she walked away. Not once did he sense any spirit energy at all coming from her. Everyone had at least some, if they didn't then they were nothing more then an empty shell. It reminded him of earlier the day before over by the river. Then it hit him like a punch in the gut. Everything about her was the same as the woman with the kid that could see him. She had long straight auburn hair, her height was about five foot, and he couldn't sense an ounce of spirit energy.

"Oye." he called out.

She heard him call to her, but she ignored him and kept moving forward.

"Oye." he called out again however he was purposely louder this time.

Jumping over the guard rail he began to follow her until his cell phone went off signifiying that a hollow was near by. Being the only one close to it he had no choice,but to go and execute it. Cursing under his breath he ran off in the opposite direction to go do his job. For once she was thankful that a Hollow appeared and smiled to herself until she sensed a strong evil reiatsu in the direction of her home. It was stronger than that of a normal Hollow and judging by its intensity it was above an Espada (powerful numbered Hollow) level. Using her expert skills of shunpo she took one step and appeared in front of the house half a second later. The barrier around the house was beginning to crumble and the young Captain stood before it blocking the Vasto Lorde's way. Quickly she slipped inside and found everyone. The house shook as the battle raged outside.

"Are we going to fight?" Kiryu, the oldest asked with his fists clenched.

"No." she said sternly. "Get everyone downstairs to the basement and lock the door. DO NOT leave until I come for you."

"Your gonna fight?" Atsushi asked with happiness.

"Go." she ordered.

"You should sensei that guy doesn't stand a chance against a Vasto Lorde. Even I know that." Atsushi replied before running down the hallway with glee, being frightened never was his forte.

After checking to be sure that all of them had listened she went to the front of the house to watch the battle take place. She leaned against a wall to peer out the window looking at the Vasto Lorde and observing his actions. No other Shinigami had arrived yet to back the captain up and the Hollow was obviously winning. Looking over to the other one she noted the blood that dripped from his open wounds and of course, realizing how his strength was quickly declining. If she went to her office and called for help they wouldn't arrive on time and he'd be dead, but if she went outside and helped...no she promised herself that she wouldn't get involved in these types of matters anymore. The monster laughed haughtily as he shot a Cero at the Shinigami which distracted her from her thoughts . It knew how weak the Captain was and had decided to taunt him for fun. He blocked the shot and swung his sword at the creature. A ice and water dragon extended from the tip of his zanpakutou and charged at the Vasto Lorde successfully freezing the Arrancar solid, but when the captain charged forward to take the finishing blow it broke free. It reached out and grabbed him around the neck quickly cutting off his air supply. Hitsugaya struggled trying to get him to let go with no luck.

"Is this all that you have to offer child? The thirteen protection squads have certainly fallen in these past thousand years. You may think the water in this atmosphere is your ally, but in truth its your down fall. Preparing an attack strong enough to destroy me takes time kid and my speed is greater than you can imagine. To bad there isn't anyone that can keep my attention long enough, but I doubt that there is anyone strong enough in this world to defeat me." he grinned at Hitsugaya menacingly before throwing him to the ground and causing a crater to form in the middle of the street.

"Your not even worth using my powers on. For a captain saying that you're pathetic just doesn't sum up how weak you are!"

The Vasto Lorde landed on the ground standing over the captain. He brought his fist down into Hitsugaya's abdomen crushing several of his ribs. The captain cried out in pain and then lay there looking up at his foe as blood ran down his face. He couldn't understand why this was happening, and where were the others? They should have been there by now to help fight. The technological department would have obviously noticed that there was a Hollow this powerful in the real world by now. Just what the hell was going on? He pulled his cell phone out again and pushed a couple of buttons, but there was still no reception. The Arrancar had obviously figured out a way to jam their communication devices.

The Arrancar kicked the phone out of Hitsugaya's hand and continued to smile. He hadn't even put a dint in the guy's mask while using his bankai against him. Things were even worse than any of them had ever imagined.

"You're boring me now so I'm going to finish you off. Don't worry this'll be quicker than batting an eyelash. Hope you have a nice trip to hell!" the enemy called as he raised his hand to strike the finishing blow, that is...if he had one.

"Huh?" he asked in confusion as he looked at the gap where his arm should have been.

"My my the disabled sure are mean these days." a feminine voice replied. The Vasto Lorde turned to face his new foe. He stood there looking at her as she clutched his arm in one hand while her zanpakutou was in the other.

"Who are you?" he asked as he stepped away from the captain.

She stepped forward and before he knew it she stood behind him with her back towards him.

"Filthy creature." she replied before his body fell to pieces and he disappeared.

She sheathed her zanpakutou and looked down at the young captain. He lay in the hole half unconscious and possibly bleeding to death. She was confused about whether or not to leave him there. Looking over at the house she scratched her head and sighed before jumping down and slinging one of his arms over her shoulders.

"Who...are you?" he whispered in pain

"Don't worry about it." she told him before taking him inside and restoring the barrier to its original form. Her plans to stay away from Soul Society were becoming more and more difficult. She thought about Genryusai's words as she half carried him into the house. There seemed to be no way, staying away from the Soul Society was impossible at a time like this.

"Sensei!" Atsushi cried out as she entered the house. "Wow. He's really messed up."

"Yeah, despite my better judgement we're going to help him out. Try not to get too cozy with him while he's here." she told them matter of factly taking notice to the fact that the captain had now fallen unconscious.

"Where is he going to go?" Kiryu, asked as he took the captain's other arm and put it around his shoulders. She stopped for a moment and thought it over. There was little room in the house as it was and there wasn't a guest room. Sighing she looked at Kiryu pleadingly. His normally soft brown eyes suddenly sharpened and narrowed at her. His breathing slowed down while he thought it over.

"I'll put him on the bottom bunk in my room." he replied before walking forward towards his room constantly looking out the corner of his eye at the wounded shinigami.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

They made their way upstairs and into Kiryu's room. Gently they placed the young captain on the bed and stepped back. She turned to looked at the only other girl in the house.

"Ai, please go get the first aid kit." she asked

"Yes ma'am." the young girl replied quietly before leaving the room.

Ai was about ten years old. She was tall for girls her age, but was very shy and quiet. With lightly tanned skin and long black hair some probably labeled her as a future suicidal kid for her looks and behavior. Whenever they went out in public together she usually kept her head down and avoided peoples gazes at all cost. The only time she seemed to ever look at anyone in the eye was when the two of them were alone together training. It was only in those times that one would truly know what the girl was possibly thinking, because her emerald green eyes lit up like a moon in the clear night sky. She noticed the others standing in the doorway and raised an eyebrow.

"The rest of you are dismissed, find some way to entertain yourself without leaving the house and do not come in here unless I ask you to." she ordered while looking at little Atsushi in particular.

Ai had returned with the requested first aid kit. All of them left the room and scattered with the exception of Kiryu. He grabbed his computer chair and gave it to her before leaning against the wall and silently watching. Of all the kids he was probably the one that was most protective of her. Everywhere she went, he knew and kept tabs on her, sometimes even following her. Kiryu had every quality of an excellent Vice-Captain and would probably be one if they lived in Soul Society. He also made it his business to know everything about her as well, in a way one would probably call them best friends rather than teacher and student. Smirking to herself she used her reiatsu to begin closing the captain's wounds. A growl sounded in Kiryu's throat when she took off the captains haori and slipped his arms out of his kimono to expose his torso.

"Is it necessary for you to be so annoyed with me?" she asked as she began wrapping bandages.

"I'm confused as to why your letting the enemy inside and helping him." he replied while glaring at the unconscious Shinigami.

"Well considering that he put his life on the line for us."

"He didn't know what he was doing!" Kiryu snapped causing her to look slightly over her shoulder at him. "My apologies ma'am."

"Don't start kissing my ass now." she replied having finished her task and then spun around in the chair to look at him. "I fully understand your concerns Kiryu, but leaving him there would have caused the other members of his advance squad to possibly discover our exact location."

"Your the one always telling us not to get involved." he commented standing up straight.

"After watching his fight with that Arrancar I don't see him as much of a threat. You could have beaten it for me had I let you." she smiled as she folded her arms in front of her.

"That's a mean thing to say considering you never let us fight." his brown eyes had darkened to almost a black color.

"I have my reasons Kiryu. Please trust me."

He turned his head away from her in a childish manner. Every time she said that he knew he wasn't going to win. Her stubborn attitude was something that seemed to have absolutely no flaws.

"Fine." he replied "But only if you promise to let me read that book you stole from the archives."

"Two-shay." she said "Find his gigai and its a deal."

Kiryu nodded at her in agreement and left the room. Teenagers. She looked out his window and watched him search while in his shinigami robes to help cover more ground quickly.

"Since your awake why don't you tell me who you are." she replied before turning around to face her patient. "And don't get up, because I'll cut you in half before you even make it off the bed."

"Who are you?" he asked opening his teal-colored eyes to look at her.

"Naomi and you are?" she raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou. Captain of the tenth divison of the thirteen protection squads." her informed her. "What divison are you in?"

"Can't say that I'm in one." Naomi said leaning forward to rest her chin upon her hand.

"Your a Shinigami, you have to have one unless you were banished."

"Sounds fun, but no. I'm just here hanging out. Seireitei was starting to bore me." she told him nonchalantly before standing up. "I'll get you some water. Oh and don't try contacting your squad the communicator was damaged in the fight and doesn't work."

He watched her leave the room before taking his communicator cell off the nearby table. She was right it wasn' t working, however it didn't seem broken it was almost like the signal was being jammed. The Hollow radar worked perfectly fine, but that appeared to be the only thing that did.

His eyes traveled around the room so that he could observe his surroundings. A computer sat on the table across from him, but the surprising part was of how messy the place was. Dirty clothes were scattered everywhere, occasionally leftover food could be seen, then there were the books. Books inhabited almost the entire room, they littered the place everywhere. He read some of the titles and recognized them to be some of the exact books he had in his office.

"So whitey finally woke up." the teenager by the name of Kiryu replied as he entered the room with the captains gigai.

"My name is Captain Hitsugaya." he scowled starting to sit up, but a zanpakutou pointed in his face stopped him.

"I'm not an officer to Soul Society. No one gets respect from me, but my sensei. And while we're on that subject, if you so much as move or blink in a way I don't like, I swear I'll slice your head off."

Hitsugaya and Kiryu stared at one another for a moment before the young boy put his Soul Slayer away right as Naomi reentered the room.

"Kiryu, don't be so negative. It wouldn't be a fair fight and you know it."

"You're no match for me." Hitsugaya glared.

"On the contrary capatain. You'd be the one to lose." she informed him

Later that night everyone could feel the hostility that brewed between the two young men. It was clear they had gotten off to a rocky start. Naomi overlooked it though and focused more on why the Arrancar had been outside 'their' house. The barrier kept all reiatsu in, helping to prevent any type of individual that could detect or sense spiritual pressure from...detecting it. Perhaps she had carelessly forgotten part of the spell and weakened it somehow. If that was the case though Ai would have recognized it right off the bat. The only other thing she could think of was that the Hollow were getting more powereful, and if that was correct...then the captain would have to become an ally and she'd need to go to Soul Society and start some intense training on all thirteen protection squads. If her thoughts were true than everyone was in a lot of trouble in both worlds, and there was no way that she could over look that.

"Damn." she replied

Hitsugaya continued to lay there staring at the top bunk bed. He needed to leave this place as soon as possible, but at the same time he was curious about it all. Who was Naomi really? These kids...how had they come together to live here?

The mattress above him squeaked slightly as Kiryu rolled over trying to get comfortable. He opened his brown eyes and frowned.

"Stop staring and start sleeping. She's gonna kick you to the curb as soon as your wounds heal." he informed Hitsugaya. "So you might as well chill Whitey."

"That's Captain Hitsugaya to you." he growled

"How many times to I have to tell you? This isn't Soul Society, your rank doesn't mean squat to me so get over it...Whitey." Kiryu replied this time saying it in a mocking like manner.

Hitsugaya made a move to get up but Kiryu beat him to it. The young boy grabbed the Captain by the front of his shirt and glared at him. Before either one could say anything though Naomi appeared in the doorway.

"Kiryu." she replied sternly.

He looked up at her and then back at Hitsugaya, then he let him go and walked out. She watched him leave staying silent as he walked by. They both heard the front door open and slam. Sighing Naomi scratched her head and turned to follow him, but stopped when Hitsugaya spoke up.

"Why did you help me? With the way he keeps talking you seem to hate all of Soul Society and anyone affiliated with it."

"Hmm." she thought out loud "I guess it's true that I kinda despise Soul Society, but hating everyone is a little harsh. Let's just say that I've butted heads with the higher ups a few times in the past and it changed my perspective of things. But I helped you because it was the right thing to do. An eye for an eye Captain. You protected this house and the people most precious to me that reside in it. In turn I protected your life."

"Who are you really?" he asked standing up.

"Heh." she laughed before turning to face him. " I thought we covered this earlier. I'm Naomi."

They stood there staring at one another from across each side of the room. The light of the moon shined brightly through the window drawing a boundary line across the floor between them. It seemed like the gods had drawn a line to show them how much farther apart they really were. She could have told him the truth,but what business of it was his? If he found anything out it would make things worse.

"Get some rest Captain. I promise we won't kill you." she assured him before leaving the room.

He looked out the window and across the rooftops. It was strange that he hadn't once sensed any of his comrade's reiatsu. With his Vice-Captain Matsumoto, he had assumed she was running around the whole area in a panic. They should have atleast come close to the vicinity. Nothing was making any sense at all. He sighed as his ribs began to ache and laid back down finally falling asleep.


End file.
